Gahanna Creekside's Nativo614 centers on Latin-American and Mediterranean cuisines
Nativo614 has introduced a new fine-dining dimension to Gahanna.
Blending Latin-American and Mediterranean cuisines, the restaurant has taken over the former J. Gumbo's location at 64 Granville St. in the Creekside area of town.
The 140-seat restaurant, which was opened Oct. 31, is the vision of chef and partner David Pacheco, an Ecuadorian native who has 35 years of cooking experience. Robinson Bustamante, also co-owner, is from Peru.
"I hope it's one of the great opportunities for people to try something different," said Bustamante, a first-time restaurateur and founder of RBD Restaurants, of which Nativo614 is part.
The place was remodeled from the floor up, now featuring a largely cream-on-brown color scheme, a mix of booths, banquettes and high-tops, brick and stone accents and faux hanging plants.
The lengthy bar is lit from the inside, and the lounge area has additional seating and an illuminated wine wall.
The menu traverses much of the globe but is keenly focused on Central and South American, Italian and Spanish dishes.
"It's very popular in Latin America (to fuse the two cuisines)," Pacheco said through an interepreter.
Scratch-made food is the bedrock of the menu, which gives a big nod to international comfort food ‒ scallops and mushroom risotto, paella Valenciana, pastas, chicken Marsala and homemade empanadas with a spicy pico de gallo.
Yet there are many lighter dishes, too, such as octopus finished on the grill, a few styles of ceviche served with popcorn, oysters on the half shell and grilled salmon.
One of the early customer favorites is the causa limena ‒ an appetizer combining shrimp, chicken, potato puree, avocado, black olives and hard-boiled eggs.
Appetizers, soups and salads are $10 to $27, and entrees generally are priced from $20 to $46, the latter for surf and turf.
Nativo614 also is known for its hand-crafted cocktails ‒ including retro tiki drinks ‒ decorated with flowers and other adornments and wines.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to midnight Thursdays through Saturdays. For more information, call 614-532-5473.
gseman@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekGary
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Nativo614 opens in Gahanna's Creekside
